Bridgestone South Africa has announced that its Bridgestone and Firestone branded products will now be available at selected tyre retailers in South Africa. Until now, the manufacturer’s passenger and light truck products have predominantly been available through its own franchise network, Supa Quick. Effective from January 2019, Bridgestone and Firestone tyre brands are now available at Tiger Wheel and Tyre and many other selected retailers.

“While Supa Quick remains our primary route to market, we recognise that consumers want to be able to access Bridgestone and Firestone products at their preferred retailer,” explains Yugan Moodley, Executive Director: Sales, Bridgestone South Africa. “Bridgestone supplies 30 percent of the OE tyres specified by the world’s carmakers, and the drivers of those vehicles want to be able to acquire replacement tyres of the same brand from as wide a range of retailers as possible. That is the motivation behind our move.”

In 2018 Bridgestone was chosen to provide over 120 new original equipment fitments in EMEA. This will further compliment the Open Channel Strategy.

Mr Moodley says that the move towards an open-channel strategy signals the company’s desire to strengthen its brand in the consumer market and deliver a better customer experience.

“Today’s customers are extremely well-informed, and they research what’s out there.

They see that Bridgestone is a leader in R&D and is one of the preferred suppliers of carmakers globally—it’s quite understandable that they would also want to be able to access products of this quality from their retailer of choice,” he concludes. “We are No. 1 with carmakers, now we aim to become No.1 in the retail space as well.”

Bridgestone was also recently named Tyre Manufacturer of the Year at the TyreSafe Awards 2018. It has received numerous technical and other awards over the years to support its claim to be the world’s leading tyre manufacturer.